Nico Rosberg claimed his first F1 World title with second place finish at the Abu Dhabi grand Prix but race winner Lewis Hamilton didn’t make it easy for him this time. The Brit simply ignored his team orders to quicken his pace and having tried to slow the pack down and thus making it more difficult for Rosberg to finish on the podium.
Hamilton ignored the team instructions twice to pick up the pace, firstly from his race engineer and then from Mercedes technical Chief paddy Lowe as he backed up the race to try and push Rosberg within reaches of Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.
Hamilton said on the completion of the race “I don’t think I did anything dangerous, I don’t think I did anything unfair,” “We were fighting for the championship, I was in the lead so I control the pace… That is the rules.” He added “There was never a moment where I felt I was going to lose the race. It is a shame that it is quite clear their thought process … and I don’t have much to say, to be honest.
The Briton said, “I won today so I don’t feel like a loser,” “I did everything with the opportunities I had. We had lots of ups and downs throughout the season, starts where I fell back and I fought back and I never gave up.”
“I was hoping he (Vettel) would close up, but his tires were going off towards the end – and Nico drove well to not make mistakes. “It was pretty chilled at the end. It may have been intense for you, but not intense for me. “For me, I am in a position where I had a lot of points lost during the season so for me I am out there fighting and generally never try to do anything to harm the team or the brand.
“But we won the constructors’ championship so it was down to me and Nico today. However, they felt they still needed to make comments. We will discuss it afterward as we always do.”
Rosberg after the race said “I’m very, very glad that it’s over,”It’s unreal… I am very, very proud. I have done the same feat as my dad achieved.” “He will be here for half an hour and I am so excited to see him.”
Rosberg’s wife Vivian Rosberg said post-race podium ceremonies “It is unbelievably emotional,” “He has dreamt of this since being a little boy.”
